On the back of his Sable, EP, Bon Iver has created a website, Counterpart, seemingly designed to host covers of his songs. The launch comes with a series of Bon Iver songs new and old, along with a submissions link for video, audio, or photos, which will be randomly uploaded, according to a press release. For the most part, the artists recording the videos are not identified.
The press release notes a series of prompts that inform the mysterious project: “Who else could embody the role of Bon Iver? Could the essence of a song lie outside the voice that first sang it? If a song is a vessel, who else might fill it? Do you have a friend that resembles Justin Vernon?” It also notes a quote from Justin Vernon’s recent New Yorker profile: “Why do we like a song?” he asked. “Is it because of who’s singing it to us? Or is it the song. I just think it’s the song. For me, it is. For me, it’s about the song and what the music does.”
Since Sable, Vernon has released videos for “Things Behind Things Behind Things” and “Awards Season.”
